24 



SEA FISH OF TRINIDAD 



plumes," "carangue grasse," and "carangue France," and it 

 is the two first varieties I wish to specially mention, as they 

 are the largest and strongest. The "camard" may bite at 

 any time of the day, but as a rule the "gros-yeux" is only 

 taken in the early morning or just about sundown and about 

 an hour or two after. As they are surface fish, and come 

 often to the top of the water to gambol and hunt sardines, 

 they are nearly always fished for with trolling lines. In 

 taking the bait, the "camard" or "gros-yeux" does not 

 finick about but hits it "one time," and for this the fisher 

 must be prepared, as he will in all probability take out twenty 

 to thirty fathoms of the slack line at his first rush when he 

 charges for the bottom, and it matters not if he gets there as 

 he fights like a bulldog the whole time, no getting behind 

 rocks for him. He is now preparing for a second rush, but- 

 ting with his head, or " baie tete" as the Creoles call it. The 

 fisherman must keep a steady but not too strong a strain on 

 thfe line all the time, that is, must feel him (with a reel the 

 check will be sufficient) . I f he feels the fish softening, haul in , 

 but always stand by for fresh rushes, of which there will 

 probably be five or six, and if you are a hand-liner and have 

 got all your line in the boat, be careful when you get on the 

 wire, for that is the critical time both for your fingers and 

 your chances of landing your fish, for if he is not quite ex- 

 hausted he will make another rush, the wire will cut up your 

 fingers, Mr. Cavalli will break it, and then " Aio Punch," for 

 he fights to the bitter end, and never gives in till practically 

 drowned, and even then he is still butting with his head. 

 He is such a gallant fish, and fights so like a " proper gentle- 

 man," that the true sportsman, though he hates to lose him, 

 must regret that he is in the bottom of the boat. He is the 

 " Du Guesclin" of Trinidad fish. Most amateurs use gloves 

 when trolling to save their fingers from being cut by the wire, 

 but this necessarily does away with their fineness of touch. 

 I have previously referred to the presence of the small bird 

 called "mauve" being a sure sign of cavalli. This refers to 

 the "camard." There is its counterpart, a bird of similar 

 size, but darker, which comes at dusk, called in Creole ' 'mache 

 carabache," and betokens the presence of the carangue 



